Wage deduction not permitted

An employer was not entitled to deduct an amount from wages owing to an employee on termination for the employee's failure to give the contractually agreed period of notice. The employee's employment agreement provided that the employer could deduct wages if the employee failed to give the contractual notice. The employee had signed the agreement. However, because the employer did not give the employee a copy of the agreement and because the employer failed to warn the employee about the notice period when he resigned, the Employment Relations Authority ruled that the employee had made a genuine mistake and could not be held responsible for it: